1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates an optical axis correction apparatus of an imaging device and a method of correcting an optical axis position of an imaging device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In imaging devices such as cameras, changing the state (e.g., a magnification) of an object image (an image picked up by an imaging device) by changing the relative position among a plurality of optical elements of an imaging optical system (e.g., a photographing optical system) is one of the most frequent operations performed in imaging devices. Although various such operations for changing the state of an object image are known, a zooming operation in a zoom lens and an insertion/removal operation of a wide-converter lens or a macro lens into/from an optical path on an optical axis are examples of such operations.
In general, if the relative positions of a plurality of optical elements of an optical system are changed, sometimes a deviation (eccentricity) of the optical axis of the optical system, from the original position in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis, occurs at the positions of each optical element (unique to each optical element). It is extremely difficult to eliminate such an optical axis deviation to perfection even if the positioning accuracy of each location of occurrence is enhanced.